


You gonna break my heart, Sava?

by Odestaholyship



Category: SKAM (Italy)
Genre: F/M, and tatbilb is exactly that, ok so call me a cliche but i love a good teen romcom, skam au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:07:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22699885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Odestaholyship/pseuds/Odestaholyship
Summary: Anonymous asked:Incantava’s prompt based on To all the boys I ever loved: Edo and Ele faking a love relationship and then fall for each others for real. Thank you!
Relationships: Edoardo Incanti/Eleonora Sava
Comments: 14
Kudos: 53





	1. This will sound stupid

Eleonora stood at the door of a random coffee shop, her fingers nervously fidgeting with the locket that was resting against her chest. It felt stupid to just stand there, looking in on the people inside the shop, but for some dumb reason she felt frozen. It felt impossible to push the door open and step inside, yet it felt equally as impossible to walk away - she was far too curious. Fuck. 

Eleonora opened the door and slipped inside, answering a barista’s welcome with a smile that was so fleeting that the girl doubted whether the guy behind the counter had actually managed to catch it. For a second she stood there, her eyes scanning the room - and then her gaze set on Edoardo Incanti, and Eleonora’s heart jumped.

Edoardo invited her over to the table with a wave of his hand, his smile far too warm to be genuine. But for some reason Eleonora complied, even though a second ago she had been ready to flee the premises without a second thought. Edoardo’s eyes followed her all the way from the door, and until she was seated across from him.

“Coffee?” Edoardo asked, gesturing towards an untouched cup sitting on Eleonora’s side of the table.

Eleonora frowned, but her fingers were already fiddling with the warm cup. “You ordered me coffee?”

Edoardo shrugged, taking a sip of his. “I had a feeling you were a coffee person.”

“You have no idea what kind of a person I am.”

Edoardo smiled, nodding with a vacant expression. “That’s true, but it doesn’t matter.”

Eleonora rolled her eyes, but didn’t bother to explore the topic for any longer, waiting for the boy to fill the silence - after all, he was the one who had dug up her number from his friends and had contacted her a few days ago. Eleonora had left him on read for a day, but eventually had answered and agreed to meet the boy over coffee for “something important”, whatever the fuck that was.

“Okay,” Edoardo started, and for a passing moment he sounded almost nervous, “I know you must the weirded out that I asked you here, considering that we’ve never actually, you know, talked. 

And trust me, this will sound so fucking stupid. Moronic, even. But I have an offer for you,” Edoardo said, huffing out a nervous breath like he had been holding it in till he got the necessary words out. 

Eleonora did nothing but stare at him over their coffee cups, her eyes curious but her expression otherwise almost scarily indifferent, clearly waiting for reason she was sitting there.

“I think we should fake a relationship,” Edoardo eventually stated.

Eleonora nearly choked on her coffee. “What?!”

“Okay woah, just hold on! I said it’s gonna sound stupid,” the boy interrupted, his hand defensively raised like he was trying to protect himself. 

“Just listen. There’s this girl that I used to date, Elena. We recently broke up or went on a break or whatever, and ever since she’s been going crazy to make me jealous. And however dumb it may sound, I need her to stop once and for all, and at this time I have zero time nor interest to actually put effort in a real relationship.”

Eleonora shook her head slowly. “Wow. And here I was thinking there was no way you could ever sound more like an asshole than you did before.”

“Ouch, that’s pretty harsh,” Edoardo said, but a slight grin was creeping at the corners of his mouth, making the girl roll her eyes and shake her head again.

“Okay, I’ll bite. What’s in it for me?” Eleonora asked.

“Well, considering that you just recently transferred to our school, you probably don’t have a lot of friends,” Edoardo said gently, as to not offend the girl. “Believe it or not, fake-dating me could let you meet a lot of new people.”

Eleonora nearly flinched when Edoardo talked of her situation like he knew her. “I have friends,” she lied.

“You do? Who?”

Eleonora opened her mouth like she was truly about to list the names of all her non-existent friends. For a second they sat there staring at each other, and Eleonora scrambled her brain to remember the name of the red-haired girl she had met the other night. Fuck.

“Eva,” Eleonora stated, remembering the girl’s name from her Facebook. “I have Eva.”

Edoardo chuckled, and Eleonora knew that she had been caught in her lie. But for some reason the boy let it pass, and he shrugged it off. “Okay.”

“If this was all, you probably don’t mind if I leave.”

Eleonora sipped the last of her coffee - hey, who was she to turn down a free cup of coffee? - and got up from the table, grabbing her bag as she did. And just as she was about to turn towards the door, Edoardo interrupted:

“I know what your ex-boyfriend did.”

Eleonora froze, and it felt like the world froze with her. Seconds felt like minutes, and the girl had to fight back the urge of throwing her coffee cup at Edoardo’s head full of curls. But no, that would be dumb - the best way to deal with the situation was indifference, yet for some reason Eleonora felt like it was impossible to control her emotions as she turned back to face the older boy.

“What?” She asked, her voice nearly breaking.

“I know what that asshole did. Believe it or not, people talk,” Edoardo said, his voice softening at the sight of Eleonora’s eyes that were now filled with fear of her own past - a past she had so quickly been running away from.

“Whatever happened at my last school has nothing to do with this. And frankly, it’s none of your fucking business,” her voice was a lot sharper now, as she was trying to cover up her own vulnerability.

“Eleonora, I could help!” Edoardo said, making the girl frown again. “If people think we’re dating, I could make sure to put an end to those disgusting rumors. You could show everyone that you’re moving on, that you don’t give a fuck about that asshole.”

For the first time Edoardo’s offer started to show its appeal to Eleonora, and she opened her mouth to find a valid protest that somehow never made its way out of her mouth. She sat back down, closing her eyes. Edoardo leaned back in his chair, ready to give the girl a moment to consider her options and possibilities. Hoping that Eleonora would choose to see the potential in the plan.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Eleonora said, her eyes still closed, “But fine. We can start fake-dating and make your ex-girlfriend jealous or whatever you wanted to do. But in exchange you help me with my… Past. Deal?”

Edoardo smiled brighter than the sun that was shining in from the windows behind him, and offered his hand to the girl across the table. Eleonora grabbed it slowly, like she was still hesitating.

“Deal.”


	2. We need rules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eleonora and Edoardo make a list of rules for their fake relationship.

_“Good morning?”_

Edoardo’s voice was groggy as he opened the door to Eleonora, who looked stern and very energetic as she stood at his doorstep, her hands clutching a little book that seemed to be something of a lifeline of hers - everytime the boy saw her at school, there was that little book, clutched against her frail chest like it was keeping her grounded. And now she was here, at his house, looking at the boy from his head to his toe, stopping at his face that was still shadowed by exhaustion.

“Hi,” Eleonora simply said, gesturing for Edoardo to let her in. And for some reason he did, stepping aside like it was the most natural thing for him to do. 

Edoardo closed the door behind the two of them, following Eleonora with his eyes. The girl was eyeing his house with curiosity, stopping at the guitars hanging on his wall. For a second it sounded like she said something under her breath, but Edoardo was far too exhausted to ask the girl to repeat herself. He knew it wasn’t anything nice anyway, so why bother?

“Uh, is it not a bit too early in the morning to be having a date?” Edoardo asked with lighthearted tone, still tiptoeing around the question he truly wanted to ask: what the hell was Eleonora doing here?

Eleonora turned to face Edoardo. “This is not a date, and it’s noon.”

Edoardo rolled his eyes and shrugged, impatient. “Okay.”

“We need rules, Edoardo,” Eleonora stated, like it was the most obvious thing to do. Rules, of course - what else could Edoardo have expected from Eleonora Sava?

“Rules?” Edoardo asked as he turned away, making his way towards the kitchen. The smell of fresh coffee was evident in the air, and Eleonora followed.

“For this… Whatever this is. Fake relationship. We need to figure out what’s okay and what’s not. What this all means,” the girl explained as she entered Edoardo’s kitchen - that seemed far too big for just one teenage boy - and hopped up on one of the counters.

“I thought the point of this thing was that it doesn’t mean anything,” Edoardo argued, pulling out two coffee mugs. “Coffee? Since you’re a coffee person. Like I predicted, remember?”

Eleonora rolled her eyes at Edoardo’s tone, turning her gaze away from the boy. She gave him a mere nod, suddenly uncomfortable at the thought that Edoardo Incanti knew something about her - it didn’t matter that it was something as insignificant as her fondness of coffee. It felt strange, and it felt even stranger to sit there, on Edoardo’s kitchen counter, watching him pour coffee for them.

Eleonora couldn’t stop herself from noticing a picture that was printed on one of the mugs: it was a picture of a beautiful woman, her heart-shaped face scrunched up in fit of laughter that made her eyes squint. She had the same, tangled up curls as Edoardo, and there was something eerily similar in the way her smile curved slightly more to the other side. She looked gentle. She looked warm. But when Edoardo caught Eleonora eyeing the cup with curiosity, the boy grabbed the mug, concealing the image with his hand.

Edoardo offered Eleonora the other cup, which she happily accepted. “So, Eleonora, what exactly do these rules mean?”

“Whatever we want them to mean.”

“Okay. If we want to seem like a real couple, I think the rules should allow kissing. But only publicly, when it’s possible that someone sees us.”

Eleonora could feel herself flinch with nervousness at the thought of Edoardo kissing her, his hands on her skin. The thought felt foreign, but somehow comforting. It nearly felt real for a brief second.

“Uh…” Eleonora uttered, nervously tapping at her mug. Buying herself time. “Okay.”

“Anything else?”

“Anytime either of us feel uncomfortable, we say it,” Eleonora said, and Edoardo nodded. Reasonable. “And you have to teach me to play the guitar. I know you know how, I saw the guitars in your living room.”

“Seriously? That’s a rule?” Edoardo asked, eyebrows raised.

“It is now.”

“Okay. Well then you have to come to parties with me,” Edoardo challenged, and Eleonora threw her head back dramatically. 

“Fine, fine,” Eleonora agreed, taking a sip of her coffee. “I’ll go to your lame parties. But I’m going to complain.”

Edoardo grinned, shaking his head. “I can live with that, Sava.”

“Hopefully you won’t have to for long,” Eleonora said, pulling her notebook to her lap. Edoardo raised his eyebrows, eyeing the book suspiciously.

“One last thing. You should make me your wallpaper,” Eleonora suggested, tapping on Edoardo’s phone on the counter next to her. 

Edoardo shrugged. “Fine. But so should you.”

The girl started scribbling in her notebook furiously, and Edoardo did nothing but stare at her with amusement - she looked awfully serious right then and there, sitting cross-legged on his kitchen counter, a forgotten cup of coffee beside her. Edoardo attempted to say something, perhaps ask what the fuck was she doing, but the girl shushed him with a wave of her hand before he could get a word out.

“Okay.” Eleonora said after a few long minutes, and Edoardo jolted back to reality from his thoughts.

Eleonora presented the notebook page to Edoardo, and the boy chuckled as he saw the list of rules Eleonora had written down for them:

_\- Kissing allowed ONLY in public  
\- Eleonora will go to parties with Edoardo (and will only complain half the time)  
\- Edoardo will teach Eleonora to play the guitar  
\- If either feels uncomfortable, they will say it  
\- Edoardo will make Eleonora his wallpaper (and vice versa!)  
\- No snitching_

“This is ridiculous,” Eleonora said with a laugh, tracing the words on the paper with her fingers.

“Hey, you were the one dumb enough to go along with me!”

“And you were dumb enough to suggest this,” Eleonora shot back, smirking as he signed her initials under the contract. She offered the pen to the older boy, who snatched it from her fingers.

Edoardo signed his name under the list of rules. “Well, Sava, I never claimed to be smart.”


	3. We're in this mess together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eleonora and Edoardo go to school as a "couple" for the first time.

Eleonora stared at herself in the mirror of her bathroom, her eyes nervously taking in any and every sign of exhaustion. And to be quite fair, there were many: shadows under her eyes, a vacantly distant look in her green eyes, a certain dullness to her gaze. The brunette shook her head, groaning. Fuck. Eleonora pulled out her concealer once more, applying one more layer of false brightness under her eyes, desperate to conceal the true reason she had barely been sleeping. 

Edoardo. Fuck. 

How the hell was Eleonora supposed to walk through the doors of her school and pretend to know Edoardo Incanti? How the hell was she supposed to act like he was someone she wanted to know? Every passing minute made their plan seem more and more ridiculous, and Eleonora was spiralling with each passing second. Maybe Edoardo would realize the lunacy of their agreement, as well. Perhaps he’d call. Perhaps he’d bail. Oh, how Eleonora wished he would.

Eleonora’s phone buzzed, and her heart jumped when she saw Edoardo’s name on her screen. “I’m outside.” 

Oh, she was in too deep now. Eleonora took one last glance of herself in the mirror, then shaking her head in bewilderment as she ran out of the bathroom. She grabbed her bag on the way to the door, barely turning back to yell her goodbyes to Filippo as she passed his room - he was probably still sleeping, anyway. It was a Monday after all, and Filo occasionally had the habit of starting his weeks with a hangover. Reminds me that there’s no way but up this week, he always said. What a strange, dumb sentiment.

For a brief moment Eleonora was convinced that Edoardo was kidding - maybe he wasn’t truly waiting to take her to school, maybe he wasn’t really taking this little play-pretend that seriously. Maybe he’d come to their senses. Maybe they both would. Hell, maybe this was all some fever dream that Eleonora just couldn’t wake herself up from. And as she skipped down the last steps and opened the door of her apartment building, Eleonora believed herself for a moment. It was all a dream. All a big joke. Everything was just the way they were last week.

Yet still for some reason Edoardo Incanti’s car was pulled over on the side of the street, the engine whirring quietly. Eleonora took a deep breath as she approached the car, and her hand hesitated on the handle for the briefest moment. Edoardo looked at her through the window, his eyes glancing at the Eleonora’s hesitating hand with a smirk. He gestured for the girl to get in, and against all her better judgement, she did.

“Good morning,” said Edoardo.

Eleonora put on her seatbelt all the while actively avoiding eye contact. “Hi.”

“What’s up?” Edoardo asked, his eyes nervously glancing at Eleonora’s hands that were still anxiously fiddling with her seatbelt. They started driving, but the silence between them persisted.

Eleonora shrugged, her gaze following the changing scenery outside their windows. “So we’re really going this far? You taking me to school in the mornings?”

Edoardo opened his mouth, but nothing came out - it seemed almost like he was merely buying himself some time to put words in the right order. He shrugged again, indifferent. “Well, we have to play the part. And I’d be a shitty boyfriend if I didn’t pick you up, right?”

It was disturbing how easily the word slipped from his lips, how easily he called himself Eleonora’s boyfriend. It was something she’d have to get used to - and fast. It wouldn’t be right for her to be jumping out of her skin publicly when someone would dare to call Edoardo Incanti her boyfriend. For some reason the thought made Eleonora smile.

“Yeah,” she eventually agreed, turning her gaze to Edoardo for the first time during their car ride. “I guess you would be.”

The rest of the car ride went quietly, as both seemed to be too sunken into their own thoughts - or, in Eleonora’s case, were too nervous to actually say anything out loud. Every passing minute brought the girl’s heart rate up, and by the time they parked on the school parking lot, her heart was nearly racing to jump out of her chest. Edoardo turned the engine off and fell back to his seat with a huff, taking a glance of himself in the rearview mirror.

“So, what’s it gonna be, Sava? You ready for everyone to go batshit fucking crazy when they see us?” He asked as he put on a pair of sunglasses, flashing a cocky smile at the girl next to him.

“You want a honest answer?” Eleonora asked.

Edoardo pondered. “I should probably say no to that, right?”

“Yep.”

“Okay then. Just smile and breathe, Eleonora. We’re in this mess together,” he reminded Eleonora, and for a second she actually felt consoled. The second was gone far too quickly.

Edoardo jumped out of the door and slammed the door shut behind himself. Eleonora was about to do the same as well, but before she could do a thing to get out of the car, Edoardo had raced to her side of the vehicle, and was now opening the door for her. Eleonora eyed the boy suspiciously when he offered her his hand, but she took it without saying a word, suddenly grateful for the physical support Edoardo’s grip provided. The boy closed Eleonora’s door behind her and tightened his grip of her hand, squeezing it for a quarter of a second.

And then they were walking, joining the stream of students slowly making their way inside. Edoardo was pulling her closer to his side as they made it inside, clearly somehow sensing the anxiety that was now taking a hold of the girl. His grip was reassuringly tight, pulling Eleonora to his side, closer than she had ever been to Edoardo - close enough to smell the unfamiliar scent of his cologne, close enough to make her almost nervous. 

It was strange feeling eyes on them as they made their way down the hallway - it seemed like anywhere they went, pairs of curious eyes followed. Eleonora could hear whispers, she could hear her own name repeated more times than she could actually count. Each time that happened, it felt like Edoardo was gently pulling her slightly closer, almost reassuringly. He was there for her. He was the one that got her into this mess. He would get her out of it unharmed, too. At least that’s what she wanted to believe. 

“You alright?” Edoardo whispered into her ear as they walked, and Eleonora nodded with a smile that felt almost real.

Edoardo answered with a squeeze of his hand, and for the first time that day Eleonora started to feel almost confident about their little act. It felt good to walk hand in hand with Edoardo, knowing that there were eyes on them, knowing that people were talking. Eleonora could feel a smile creeping up on her lips as they passed another group of people who seemed to have forgotten what they had been talking about - they just stood there, staring, eyeing them like they were aliens walking among humans. Fuck, it felt weird. And when they passed Elena and her group of friends, Eleonora could feel Edoardo’s body vibrating with quiet laughter. 

They slowed down their pace once they were nearing Eleonora’s first class, slowly swinging their intertwined hands between them like children. They stopped near the open door of the classroom, and Edoardo pulled Eleonora so they were facing each other. Yet another skipped beat of Eleonora’s heart. Edoardo’s hand rose slowly to touch Eleonora’s face, gently swiping a strand of hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered on her soft skin.

“Okay, I gotta run. I’ve been late way too many fucking times for history this month,” Edoardo said, making Eleonora chuckle. They stood there for a while, trying to figure out their next move.

Suddenly, Edoardo leaned in closer. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. But before he could do anything to make Eleonora panic any further, his lips pressed a light kiss on Eleonora’s cheek, giving him the opportunity to whisper: “You did good, Sava.”

“I’ll see you later,” Eleonora said with a smile.

Edoardo turned on his heels and raced down the hall, disappearing behind the corner at the end of the hallway. And as he did, Eleonora took a deep breath and shook her head, unable to process the fact that she had survived her first public appearance with Edoardo Incanti. Still shaking her head, the girl entered the noisy classroom, scanning the room for a free seat. 

Eva was there. The sight of her made Eleonora smile, and she didn’t hesitate to walk across the classroom. “Can I sit here?”

Eva looked up from her phone, eyeing Eleonora. “Sure.”

They fell into a mutual silence, but it didn’t last for long before Eva asked, her tone careful: “So, no to be nosy, but are you together with Incanti or something?”

“No, you’re not being nosy. It’s fine. Uh… Yeah, I guess you could call it that,” Eleonora answered, squirming in her chair. “We’re trying to keep it lowkey.”

Eva snorted. “Yeah, as if anything with Edoardo Incanti could ever be lowkey.” 

There was a harsh truth in her words, and Eleonora knew it. She had witnessed it in the hallways of the school just fifteen minutes earlier. There was nothing lowkey nor subtle about anything that had something to do with Edoardo Incanti, and Eleonora had known that ever since she first stepped inside this school - I guess every school had to have their cliche, and Edoardo seemed to be the worst of them. 

“That’s true,” Eleonora admitted, suddenly at a loss for better words.

“So, are you guys going to Chicco Rodi’s party this weekend, then?” Eva asked, her tone almost hopeful. “I mean, I was invited to go with my boyfriend and his friends, but it’d be nice to have another familiar face there or something.”

Eleonora could feel a smile tugging at her lips, but she tried to hide it. “Yeah, I think Edoardo mentioned the party,” she lied effortlessly. “I’m pretty sure we’re going.”


	4. Just don' t do anything I wouldn't

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edoardo and Eleonora attend Chicco Rodi's party on Friday.

The sky was changing colours outside Eleonora’s bedroom window, yet she felt like she couldn’t move. She could see the sun slowly setting in the horizon, laying its last rays of light on the wall of her room, she could see the day wasting away while Eleonora laid there, unmoving, pondering whether she’d ever be able to get up. She glanced at her phone on the nightstand, noticing that the party she and Edoardo were supposed to attend was well underway - which meant that Edoardo would be picking her up any moment now. Fuck. The week of pretending had been exhausting, and the thought of it continuing even on their free time made Eleonora almost nauseous. 

After a few more minutes of complete procrastination Eleonora got up, running a hand through her brown hair. She sat on the edge of her bed, eyeing herself in the mirror standing on her desk: a pair of tired, green eyes stared back at her. There wasn’t much time, but Eleonora knew that she had to put a bit of effort into her appearance if she were to blend in at the party - after all, she doubted that many girls attended Chicco Rodi’s parties looking like they had just rolled out of bed. Or maybe they did. Hell if Eleonora knew.

“It’ll be fun,” Eleonora hummed to herself reassuringly while applying red lipstick onto her lips, trying to get back some color onto her pale face. The red had a pretty nice effect on her overall look, and for a moment Eleonora believed her own words. Maybe she’d have fun. Eva was there, after all.

That’s when the doorbell rang, and Eleonora could feel herself going stiff. Was Edoardo at her door? Why wasn’t he waiting for her downstairs like he had done every other day this week? Fuck. “Filo! Don’t open the door, it’s for me!”

Eleonora hurried to her bedroom door, but she already knew she was too late. As she peeked into the hallway, Filo opened the door of their apartment, revealing Edoardo standing there with his hands in his jacket pockets, a polite smile painted onto his lips. He looked surprisingly sweet standing there, his smile wavering only a mere second as his eyes set on Filo, who he clearly had never seen before.

Edoardo looked at Eleonora over Filo’s shoulders, his smile growing wider. “Uh, Edoardo. Edoardo Incanti. I’m here to take Eleonora to a party.”

Filo opened his mouth theatrically, turning from Edoardo to her sister. “Eleonora, this handsome young man here claims that he’s here to take you to a party. But that just cannot be right, because there is no way that my little sister could possibly be attending a party!”

Eleonora rolled her eyes as she slipped into the hallway, grabbing her jacket on the way to the door. Edoardo’s eyes followed her movements with amusement, and so did Filo’s: only his eyes were jumping from Edoardo to Eleonora, clearly trying to read the situation between the two of them. Filo stepped aside without saying a word when Eleonora put on her shoes and made her way to the door, his expression still curiously confused as Edoardo’s hand gently brushed the small of Eleonora’s back. It was gesture that had grown on him like a habit, but it still made Eleonora shiver nevertheless.

“Well, we’re leaving now,” Eleonora said, glancing at Edoardo. He was holding back laughter.

Filo raised his eyebrows. “I feel like I should be a better big brother and threaten this guy or something.”

“But you won’t.”

The blonde boy shrugged, crossing his arms as he took one more glance of the pair. “Nope, I won’t. Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t. Which is not much, but you get the point.”

Eleonora chuckled at Filo’s words as she closed the door behind her and Edoardo, seeing that he was still stifling his laughter as they made their way to his car. They stayed in silence until the car was already moving, but Eleonora knew that Edoardo was just dying to say something. 

She crossed her arms like a child placing her feet on the dashboard. There was always something comforting about their joint car rides through Rome, whether they were at the crack of dawn or at night. For a moment she felt almost blue at the thought of these rides ending - there was something eerily calming about them. Eleonora loved the feeling of sitting there, Edoardo’s playlist quietly playing in the background, while she looked at the eternal city coming alive around them. Night had fallen over Rome, but that was the moment it was at its most beautiful. 

“Is it a long drive?” Eleonora asked after a few minutes, tearing her gaze from the city lights.

Edoardo shook his head, pointing to a house on a hill that they were quickly approaching. “See that? That’s Chicco’s house.”

It was an enormous house, and by the time they pulled up on the driveway that was already filled with cars, Eleonora’s head was spinning. It felt absurd that people lived in houses like these, nearly in the heart of Rome. The house looked surprisingly inviting, the lights emitting from the windows painting the driveway golden. A steady beat making the whole house shake, and suddenly Eleonora felt almost excited to be there. Edoardo opened the car door for her like he always did, offering his hand to Eleonora as he did so. Eleonora grabbed it, jumping down from the car. Edoardo pulled her slightly closer as her feet touched the ground, then let go of her with lingering fingers.

It was like their own, daily dance - Edoardo would take his hand, and for a brief moment he’d keep her there, close to him, always clumsily masking it as nothing. He always let go of her soon, but sometimes he lingered a second or two more. It had become their little routine, their little habit, something Eleonora was so used to after a week of pretending. 

Edoardo stopped to take a look of Eleonora, his eyes glossing over her red lips and her green eyes in the twilight. As he did so, Eleonora pulled an elastic band from her wrist and tied her hair up on a bun, preferring to keep her hair out of her face - after all, she had barely had enough time to brush it before the whole Filo-Edoardo scene had unfolded right on her doorstep.

Edoardo’s hand reached out to her, touching her hair. “No, don’t. You look good with your hair down.”

Eleonora frowned, her fingers hesitating. “What?”

“You look good with your hair down,” Edoardo repeated, pulling the elastic band from the girl’s hair gently, careful not to hurt the her. Eleonora’s hair fell back onto her shoulders, making Edoardo smile approvingly. “Like that. You look good.”

It seemed like they both froze there, staring at each other in the dark. Edoardo looked handsome, the golden specks of light dancing on his features, shining a little light on his eyes, on his cheeks, and eventually on his lips, that were now curved into a smile. His gaze on Eleonora was relentless, yet it didn’t invasive in the least - it was almost a familiar feeling, the feeling of Edoardo’s eyes on her. She was used to it by now, just now like this. Not in private, not when there was no one to witness them. There was tension.

“Is that Edoardo fucking Incanti I’m seeing on my damn driveway?!” Chicco Rodi’s intoxicated voice pierced the air followed by laughter, and both Eleonora and Edoardo jumped, and the boy gave her a strange, intense look before grabbing her hand.

Edoardo’s entire being shifted, a familiar cocky smile climbing up on his lips. “Wish it wasn’t, Rodi. You think I don’t have better things to do on my Friday nights?” 

Edoardo’s hand let go of Eleonora’s but his arm wrapped around her and pulled her to his side instead. There was something effortlessly chill about the way he held there, like there had not been a day that Eleonora not had been there, nudged to his side. Chicco met them halfway as they made their to the house, and Eleonora noticed a half-empty bottle of scotch in his right hand.

“Well, you think I want your bum ass in my house drinking my booze and eating my food?” Chicco fired back with a smile that was scarily similar to Edoardo’s. 

Edoardo grinned, and Eleonora could feel his body vibrating with laughter again. “Well, you see, this one just couldn’t stay away,” he explained, pointing to Eleonora on his side.

Chicco’s eyes immediately shot to stare at Eleonora, his eyes far more than just curious - no, he looked like he had been dying to meet the new girlfriend of Edoardo, the girl who had popped out of nowhere from a different school and then had snagged the most popular guy in their school. Chicco tilted his head, and his expression melted into a smile that was surprisingly warm. “Oh, Eleonora, I just knew there was a reason that I liked you.”

“Of course,” Chicco continued, gesturing with his hands for the pair to follow him as he made his way back to the house, “There’s not much competition. I mean, those girls before you, Eleonora… _Sheesh_. Elena was a grade A bitch - wait, no. She still is a grade A bitch.”

“Is she here?” Asked Edoardo.

Chicco gave him a look that was half-apologetic, and Eleonora felt shivers. Elena was here? THE Elena? Eleonora shot Edoardo worried look, but the boy responded by squeezing her to his side tightly for a brief second as they made their way down a long, extravagant hallway towards the booming music and the sounds of people screaming and singing. 

“It’s a beautiful house,” Eleonora said to Chicco, who smiled at her drunkenly.

“Thank you, Eleonora! My parents have five.”

Eleonora had been to parties before, but the get-togethers of her middle school years at her former school were nothing compared to this; there were so many people all across the house, scattered on the yard dancing. Nearly all the faces were foreign to Eleonora, except the few she actually recognized from her new school, one of them being Elena, Edoardo’s ex-girlfriend. She was standing near the doorway with a friend, but her eyes were shooting daggers at Eleonora and Edoardo.

“If looks could kill, this would be a crime scene,” Edoardo whispered in a sing-songy voice, and Eleonora couldn’t help herself from laughing. And when she did, Edoardo’s eyes softened for a quarter of a second - it was a certain twinkle of emotion that was so quickly gone, Eleonora could’ve sworn that it was never there at all. Her thoughts were quickly redirected as Edoardo navigated her through the party, introducing her to his friends, his arm firm around her waist as he did so. The boy’s friends were all very welcoming, but Eleonora could see the undeniable curiosity that was shining through all of their smiles. 

“Eleonora!” Eva’s voice echoed through the room, and both Edoardo and Eleonora turned towards the sound. Eva was rushing through the crowd to get to her friend, her lips curved up to a smile so bright her eyes were twinkling. “You’re here! I was scared you were bailing!”

Eleonora smiled and threw a look at Edoardo. “Oh no, Edo was just taking forever getting ready.”

Edoardo could feel himself zoning out as the girls kept conversing, partly to give the two of them the chance to catch up - after all, he had never really talked to Eva and it did seem strange to talk to her like a close friend even if he was dating her good friend. He could see Eva was already tipsy by the look of her smile and the way she kept moving to the beat of the music in the background, like her body was telling her to dance. She seemed sweet. And apparently Edoardo wasn’t the only one thought so, as he could see Fede’s gaze playing on Eva from the other side of the room, his head tilted slightly to the right.

Oh, for fuck’s sake. Fede would not be good for her. 

“Hey, I’m going to the bathroom,” Edoardo said to Eleonora, pressing a brief kiss into her hair, then letting go of her. The girls continued their conversation as Edoardo made his way down the hallway and into one of the many bathrooms that Chicco’s house had. Seriously, it was ridiculous. There were at least six bathrooms in the fucking house, and Chicco basically lived alone as his parents were too busy travelling to actually check up on their youngest son anymore. 

Edoardo was about to pull the door of the bathroom shut when someone slid their foot in to stop him from doing so; it was Elena, who used Edoardo’s confusion as a chance to slip inside the bathroom. Edoardo took a step back from his ex-girlfriend, and he heard the girl lock the door of the bathroom behind his back. 

“Hi,” Elena said, her voice just as soft as Edoardo remembered. It was strange seeing her here, like this, when she looked just as beautiful as Edoardo remembered. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been with her alone.

“Hey.”

“You haven’t been returning my texts,” Elena accused, slowly approaching Edoardo until they were close enough to touch. 

They didn’t, though, and Edoardo crossed his arms across his chest like he was trying to protect himself. “Didn’t have anything to say to you.”

“Oh really? You think I’m gonna buy that? You’ve been acting so weird lately, Edo. First were break up, and suddenly you’ve got some cheap little rebound girl? What the fuck?”

Edoardo could feel himself flinching at Elena’s harsh words of Eleonora, even if he knew that they were merely fuelled by drunken anger. Still, Edoardo felt something he wasn’t expecting: anger. “Don’t talk about her like that, Elena.”

“Why not? What is there about her that I don’t see?” Elena challenged, taking a step closer. “You think she’s prettier than me, Edoardo?”

She sounded like a wounded little girl, even if she tried to mask it under a tone so sharp Edoardo could swear could cut like a knife. “You know that I’ve always thought that you’re beautiful, Elena.”

Elena shook her head, taking a sip of her wine glass. She turned her gaze away from Edoardo, and an awkward silence set between the two of them. It felt awful being there, knowing that there was so much history between them yet knowing that it all was ruined. But for the first time Edoardo could look at Elena and not feel this great sorrow of losing her. He was staring at her now, close enough to see hear her breathing, and he felt almost nothing for her. 

“Elena, I’ve gotta go.” And with that Edoardo slipped away from her, slipping out of the bathroom and leaving Elena there alone, relieved that he had survived his first face-on confrontation with her ex-girlfriend. There was no violence, no yelling, no bodies - a success, even if Edoardo did so himself. He joined the stream of people, trying to catch a glimpse of Eva’s long red hair or Eleonora’s brown curls. After about 15 minutes of searching, the boy found the pair in the corner of the room, sharing a bottle of beer on the couch. Fede and and Matteo were with them, and Edoado could feel a sting of jealousy in his chest when he saw Matteo leaning in closer to Eleonora as they talked.

_“Hey.”_ Edoardo interrupted sharply. “Wanna get out of here? Get some food or something?”

Eleonora shrugged, downing the rest of the beer. She turned to Eva and whispered something into the girl’s ear, and they exchanged brief cheek kisses before Eleonora got up on her feet. “Let’s go.”

Edoardo offered his hand out to Eleonora, and she grabbed it. And this time she didn’t hesitate.


	5. So fucking special

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edoardo and Eleonora spend the evening together after Chicco's party

“What is this place?” Eleonora asked Edoardo parked in front of a shabby looking diner in some corner of Rome that she had never even visited. She turned back towards Edoardo to wait for an answer, but the boy only shook his head as he unbuckled his seatbelt. 

Edoardo jumped out of the car, gesturing for her to follow. “Just wait for it, Sava. You’ll love it.”

“This looks exactly like the place where we both are gonna get murdered,” Eleonora hissed but followed Edoardo nevertheless, frowning as the boy opened the door and held it open for her. Eleonora stepped inside and was slightly taken aback by what she was seeing:

The diner didn’t look like much from the outside, but the moment she stepped inside Eleonora felt like she had been travelling back years, decades even. She could recognize the traditional American diner style that she had seen in loads of American movies, but there was something even more different about this one. The booths were light blue coloured, the air smelled of coffee even though it was nearly midnight on a Friday night, and there was a classic rock song playing in the background. 

“Wow,” Eleonora uttered as they sat down in one of the booths, and Edoardo grinned.

“I know, right? Found this place with Elena when we were like 14,” the boy explained, but Eleonora could see him visibly freezing when he forced Elena’s name through his lips. Edoardo fell silent, and the words were left hanging between them like a physical wall, and after a few seconds he started fiddling with one of the laminated menus.

Eleonora turned her gaze away from Edoardo, turning her attention to the people around her, instead. There was a small boy with his mother, both giggling at some joke that Eleonora couldn’t hear. There were teenagers keeping them awake with cups of coffee, there were lonely-looking people scattered around the diner. Eleonora could hear faint singing wafting from the kitchen, and every now and then there was a burst of laughter from somewhere. The entire place felt so alive, even at midnight. Who were these people, why were they here? It was a fascinating thought.

“When I was a kid I wanted to be a waitress at this sort of a place,” Eleonora suddenly said.

Edoardo looked up with curious eyes. “A diner?”

“Yeah. There was a certain charm to it,” Eleonora explained, shrugging at the though that now felt silly. “In all those movies there was always that cute guy that came into the diner and fell in love at first sight with the waitress. It was cheesy, but I loved it.”

But the boy only smiled, shaking his head with a quiet laugh that Eleonora nearly missed. “Likes cheesy movies. Adding that to the list of ‘weird things I know about Eleonora Sava’.”

Eleonora laughed, covering her face with her hands. “I can’t believe I told you that.” 

Silence fell between them again, but this time it felt much easier than before. Eleonora felt at ease even when they were just sitting there, comfortable in their own, private little moment that somehow felt more real than anything that Edoardo had experienced in a while. Looking at Eleonora right now, he felt some sort of unexpected happiness. He wished he could freeze the moment and live in it a little longer.

“I could take a picture of you,” Edoardo blurted. “You know, post it on Instagram. Elena will see it and… Yeah.”

Eleonora frowned but shrugged, running her hand through her messy hair as Edoardo pulled out his phone to take a photo. She stared into the camera, trying her best to feel comfortable as the boy stared at her through the lense. 

“Sava, why so serious? Is my company that bad?”

Eleonora reacted with a reserved smile for the camera, but as Edoardo stared making faces the girl could feel her facade crumbling. And when she finally started laughing, the boy used the moment as an opportunity to snap a picture of the girl’s genuine happiness. She looked beautiful like that; her eyes closed in laughter, her hand waving off the camera like she was trying to snatch it from Edoardo’s hands. Beautiful. And real. Eleonora was like a touch of real life, real moments that Edoardo wished he could experience more of.

“Let me know if Elena likes it or something,” Eleonora said, and Edoardo nodded as he put his phone on the table between them. Eleonora couldn’t deny herself the curiosity she was feeling as she thought of Edoardo’s ex-girlfriend; the girls had only seen exchanged a few glances between them at the party, but Edoardo had never really actually talked about the girl or what they had talked about at the party.

Fuck it. “How was Elena, anyway? I saw you two go into the bathroom together.”

There was a certain sharp edge to Eleonora’s voice, and Edoardo raised his eyebrows when he heard it. “Uhh… She was fine. It’s just weird between us, really. She barely talks to me when she sees me but the moment I leave she’s blowing up my phone. We were at Chicco’s party for a while, and she basically ignored me all night, but now she’s texting me like crazy.”

And almost like it was making a point, Edoardo’s phone buzzed on the table, alerting him of another text message from her ex-girlfriend. Eleonora eyed the phone with a certain distain, and was surprised to feel a spark of jealousy somewhere deep, deep inside her. It was there for a second and gone the next, but it felt jarring. Almost as jarring as Edoardo’s eyes that were now looking at Eleonora with curiosity.

“Why are you asking?”

“I don’t know,” Eleonora said honestly. “Are you gonna text her back?”

Edoardo shook his head, nervously tapping an uneven rhythm on the table. He turned to look away and shrugged. “No. Maybe. I’ll probably call her later or something.”

Eleonora frowned. “You still talk?"

The boy’s gaze shifted back to Eleonora on the other side of the table, and she could see that the boy was gathering up the right words to answer. There was a defensive taste to his tone when he finally answered: “There’s a lot of history between us.”

“That’s not an answer, Incanti. I think you’re just scared to let go of her,” Eleonora said with teasing tone, but there was a harsh truth to her words that Edoardo wanted to avoid. 

Edoardo shook his head all the while actively avoiding eye contact. He did this for a while, all the while their silence was constantly interrupted by the buzz of his phone. Finally their moment was interrupted by a pretty waitress that made her way up to them. “Can I get you guys anything?”

“Coffee,” Eleonora and Edoardo said in unison, making the waitress smile. 

Minutes passed, maybe tens of them passed in silence as the pair drank their coffee, grateful for something to do in order to avoid their conversation. Edoardo’s eyes had an intense look on them as he sipped his coffee and scrolled through tens of messages that Eleonora was sending him, and Eleonora watched on with distain. How long had Edoardo been in this toxic circle with Elena, trying to escape her grip of him yet never quite succeeding? He must’ve been truly toxic to seek out the help of a random girl that he had never even talked to. For a second Eleonora’s frustration turned into compassion, but only for a mere, passing second.

“Why do you care, anyway?” Edoardo blurted out as he slammed his phone back to the table, clearly provoked by something he had read.

“Because you got me into this mess,” Eleonora answered, circling the handle of her coffee mug. “Why did you?”

Edoardo groaned and leaned back into the booth chair, sinking into the cushions. “I just really needed someone Elena didn’t see coming. Someone who she didn’t know, someone I knew she’d be jealous of.”

“And also, I knew that I could be of help to you too. You know, with your ex and everything,” he finished.

“Oh,” Eleonora simply said, feeling herself physically flinch at the mention of Matteo. She gripped her mug tighter, so tight Edoardo could see her knuckles turning white.

“I’m sorry for what he did,” Edoardo simply said, and Eleonora nodded. “You must be scared of it all because of him.”

“Scared of what?” Asked Eleonora.

“Relationships.”

“Oh. Yeah. Well, because of Matteo and my mom,” Eleonora answered, and it looked like she could’ve just about choke on the name of her ex-boyfriend.

“What happened with your mom?” Edoardo asked curiously, although he felt like he was threading on thin ice right about now.

Eleonora took a deep breath but didn’t answer for a while. She turned her gaze to the city lights outside the window, her own reflection in the glass staring back. “She uh… She’s not the most present mother that there is. I just feel like she’s a good example of the more people you actually let in… The more they can just walk on out.”

Eleonora sounded far too casual for the emotion to be real. There was a warmth of sympathy in Edoardo’s chest, and for a moment he felt like he wanted to confess the truth of his own family to the girl. Fuck. That would be too much to load on Eleonora. Too much too quickly. “I get that. I have similar problems.”

Eleonora smiled a broken smile at Edoardo, brushing a lock of brown hair behind her ear. Silence. More silence. Fuck, it felt like they went way too far. Edoardo felt guilty, because he could see how uncomfortable Eleonora felt, how vulnerable she looked sitting there in the booth, her skin pale and eyes glassy. She looked tiny, so frail. So vulnerable. 

“But you’re not scared of me,” Edoardo said warmly. “Right?”

“Yeah, of course I’m not.” Eleonora confirmed. “Because we’re just pretending.”

For some reason the words were like a gut punch, and Edoardo felt breathless for some fucking reason. He looked away from the girl, quick to hide the look of unexpected disappointment that was quickly forming on his features. He cleared his throat and nodded far too many times for it to be genuine. A forced chuckle slipped through his lips. “Right. Of course. Eleonora Sava, ladies and gentlemen, you can count on her to keep it honest.”

Edoardo grabbed his keys from the table and scrambled up to his feet, fixing the collar of his eyes in an attempt to avoid looking at Eleonora, who was staring him down. “Wait, Edoardo? Ar- Are we good?”

“Yes, for sure,” Edoardo lied, scratching his head. His tone was pretentiously light and easy-going, and for a moment he hated himself for being such a shitty, shitty liar. “And thank you for coming to the party tonight.”

The ride back was quiet and tension-filled, the car’s stereo blasting out music louder than usually like Edoardo was trying to drown out his own thoughts. They sure did drown out Eleonora’s. Or maybe the boy just really didn’t wan’t to talk. Maybe he was tired. Maybe he was tired of Eleonora. Maybe he was angry at her. There were a lot of maybies unsaid in the car, and they both felt it. 

“You wanna come to my place for a bit?” Edoardo asked carefully, then quickly added: “You know, just for fun. I could teach you that guitar, remember?” A shitty excuse.

There was strange tone to Edoardo’s voice, but Eleonora couldn’t help herself from smiling when he asked her. It was a relief that he still wanted to hang out with her, even after the things they shared and the stuff they said to each other. Eleonora nodded. “Yeah, for sure.”

Fifteen minutes later they were pulling up to Edoardo’s house. The neighbourhood was quiet, asleep. The only lights were emitting from the cityline below, and yet again Eleonora was charmed by the beauty of Rome at night; it truly felt like the city never slept. There was a strange, exciting beauty to it, one that Eleonora not had always paid attention to.

“You coming, Sava?” Edoardo hollered from his front door that he was now keeping open for her. Eleonora turned and took a few running steps across Edoardo’s front lawn to reach him, making the boy laugh when he closed the door behind them. He turned on the lights of the grand living room, as he casually walked across the space to the glass doors that led to his back yard. He opened the doors, letting the breeze of cool night air push into the house.

Eleonora followed Edoardo to the door, taking a glance at the backyard. There was a pool a mere few steps away from the door, the lights under the water illuminating the air a blue colour. The beams of light played on Eleonora’s features, and Edoardo couldn’t look away. “You have a pool.”

“I have a pool,” Edoardo confirmed, smiling. Then he turned around, reaching for one of the acoustic guitars on the wall. “And now, we’re gonna be teaching you to play. Trust me, you’ll be better than Jimi Hendricks by the time I’m done with you.”

Eleonora laughed at Edoardo’s words, flopping down on to the soft couch. Edoardo sat in an armchair across from her, fingers absent-mindedly plucking at the strings that were clearly familiar to him. A quiet hum escaped from under his breath, a familiar melody that Eleonora could no longer name.

“I want you to play for me first,” Eleonora demanded, and lifted her hand when Edoardo opened his mouth to protest. “I know you can play, so play. Or are you scared, Incanti?”

Edoardo rolled his eyes as he tuned the instruments, humming the same melody again. It sounded eerily familiar, but Eleonora could not place a name nor a memory to the sound of it - only a feeling that she had heard it sometime. It sounded better right now though, hummed under the breath of Edoardo Incanti at one in the morning. 

Edoardo’s eyes were locked on the his own fingers on the strings, pondering. “Fine.”

He looked up from the guitar as he found the right notes, an absent look in his eyes as he started plucking away at the same, familiar melody that he had hummed earlier. And when the lyrics started gliding off of Edoardo’s lips with such ease, Eleonora couldn’t look away. Or perhaps she could’ve, but she didn’t want to - she could’ve sat there for hours, looking at Edoardo Incanti plucking away at his guitar, his voice wrapping around the lyrics in a way that Eleonora had never heard before. There was a certain roughness to his voice, but it merely made it more real. 

“- When you we’re here before

Couldn’t look you in the eye

You’re just like an angel

Your skin makes me cry-“ 

Eleonora remembered. She finally remembered the lyrics, the song, the melody. She could remember Filo blasting out the words on joint car rides, she could remember her mother humming the melody on a grocery shopping trip, she could remember the song playing quietly on her father’s record player. The memories were scattered, they were hazy, but Eleonora remembered. 

“You float like a feather,” Eleonora continued, her voice rough. She hesitated, but continued nevertheless: “In a beautiful world.”

A smile tugged at the corners of Edoardo’s lips as he listened, plucking at the melody even after Eleonora’s voice faded into silence. There was something about her, right then and there, sitting across from him at one in the morning, a thoughtful look in her green eyes. She looked beautiful, she looked complicated, and Edoardo felt terrified of what he was feeling.

“I wish I was special, you’re so fucking special,” Eleonora hummed on, following Edoardo’s fingers on the guitar. Edoardo was looking at her, and Eleonora was burning under his gaze; his gaze was intense, nearly invasive in a way that made Eleonora’s cheek heaten up. Edoardo noticed it, and gradually looked away as both their voices faded, the last of the lyrics gliding off Edoardo’s tongue rather than Eleonora’s.

Eleonora got up from the couch, suddenly terrified of the feeling in her chest. Fuck. “I think I should go home.”

“Well, that was a shitty lesson,” Edoardo said, slowly getting up from the chair. “You didn’t even touch the guitar.”

He took a step closer, then another. Eleonora nearly felt herself go out of breath when Edoardo was close enough to touch, towering over her. “I’m kidding. I’ll take you home, Sava.”

“Thank you.”

Edoardo’s gaze was burning again, his mouth opening like he was about to say something. Instead he got rid of the last inches between them, brushing a runaway strand of hair away from Eleonora face. Eleonora shivered when he touched her, suddenly feeling the weight of all the unsaid things between them hovering over the pair. For a second Edoardo almost looked like he was about to say something again, but instead he let his hand fall to his side, turning his gaze to the front door.

“Let’s go then,” he said, completely shifting his entire demeanor.

The silence between them only grew the entire way back to Eleonora’s house. Edoardo stared at the road in front of him, tapping at the steering wheel, his jaws clenched so tight like he was physically trying to stop himself from doing or saying something. Eleonora tried to keep her own, tired eyes on the city they were driving through.

“Well, good night,” Eleonora said nervously as Edoardo pulled over to the side of street. 

Edoardo smiled at her. “Good night, Sava.”

Without saying another word Eleonora got out of the car, hurrying her way to the door of her building, hurrying up the stairs, hurrying to the door of her apartment. She let out a tense sigh when she closed the door behind herself, feeling nearly dizzy as she recapped the night with Edoardo. 

The apartment was dead silent, and Filo’s keys were gone from the wooden kitchen table. Figures - of course he had went out. It was Filippo Sava, after all. Eleonora smiled at the little note her brother had left for her, crumbling it in her fist as she entered her room. Eleonora kicked off her shoes and plopped sitting onto her bed.

Eleonora’s phone buzzed. _@edincanti tagged you in a post._

It was a slightly shaky image of Eleonora laughing, her hand grasping for something - Edoardo’s phone, clearly - in the air, her eyes twinkling with joy. It was strange to see herself like that, through someone else’s lense. The moment felt real even through the screen.

The caption under the photo was simple: _“So fucking special.”_


	6. It'll mess everything up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edoardo and Eleonora have dinner with Filippo.

**WEDNESDAY**   
**15:06**

Two weeks had passed fairly quickly in Eleonora and Edoardo’s fabricated relationship bliss. Each day that passed they felt slightly more comfortable with each other, and each day they shared a bit more of themselves to each other. Every now and then Eleonora let herself sink into the relationship bliss, letting the facade fall - and to be honest, it felt nice to sometimes pretend that what they were doing wasn’t pretending. Sometimes she’d look at Edoardo, and she’d feel genuine dedication to him, and every now and then she could feel Edoardo looking at her in a way that had been very different just a few weeks ago. The line between play pretend blurred for a few seconds at a time, but Eleonora never let it go too far.

Eleonora was even making friends with some of Edoardo’s closest friends - Chicco and Federico, to be exact. The boys were surprisingly genuine and easy-going, and were very taken with Edoardo’s newest girlfriend. The two of them had revealed that Edoardo had usually dated girls that had no interest in being their friends, and usually had avoided any sort of conversation with the girls that Edoardo usually spent time with. It felt strange to be so genuinely accepted by Edoardo’s friends, even if there was nothing genuine about their relationship. They had fooled everyone around them - maybe even themselves.

Eleonora pulled out her earphones as she approached Edoardo, Federico and Chicco on the school hallway after their last class, waving her hand at the boys as she stopped beside them. “Hi.”

“Eleonora,” Fede and Chicco said nearly in unison, their tones playful. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, just passing by,” Eleonora stated with a smile as Edoardo’s arm wrapped around her almost instinctively, and he pressed a kiss or two on to the girl’s forehead - the gesture felt almost protective.

“But I did have something to tell you,” she continued, tapping Edoardo’s chest. “Filo wants to have dinner with us. Tomorrow? Around eight?”

Edoardo clicked his tongue, leaning back on his heels as he quietly relived the horror stories of family dinners at the Sava household. Shitty asparagus risottos and burnt pizza, the staples of Filo and Eleonora’s homecooking - at least according to her. “Uh, depends who’s cooking. You or Filo?”

Fede was grinning as he watched the conversation unfold, clumsily trying to stifle his laughter. Eleonora glared at him for a fraction of a second, then turned her attention back to Edoardo beside her. “Neither. We’re ordering pizza.” 

Edoardo’s worried look melted into a smile so bright his eyes twinkled, and he leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Okay, then. I’ll be there.”

“Great!” Eleonora said, sounding genuinely excited for Filippo and Edoardo to actually meet. They had that episode that one night weeks ago, but quite frankly Eleonora had doubted they’d still be doing this little play pretend by this point, so she had never really bothered to actually let the boys to get to know each other. “But I gotta run. Eva and the girls are waiting for me, we’re getting coffee together.”

Edoardo felt truly happy to hear that Eleonora had gotten new friends, and he let it show. He squeezed Eleonora’s hand with his own, reassuring her. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

Eleonora nodded, looking slightly nervous for whatever - was it the girls or tomorrow night? Edoardo couldn’t quite read her, but he stopped worrying as soon as Eleonora got up on her tippy toes and pressed a kiss on his cheek, smiling. “Bye.”’

And then she was gone, hurrying down the hallway towards doors to get to her friends. Edoardo stared at her until she was gone from his view, disappeared around the corner. And even after that he stood there, frozen, his cheek still burning from Eleonora’s kiss. Fuck.

“You guys wanna go to my place and play Fifa?” Fede interrupted Edoardo’s daydreaming, and he felt himself physically flinch. 

Edoardo cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his head absent-mindedly as he forcibly tore his gaze from the spot where Eleonora had disappeared. “Sure, sure, sure.”

**THURSDAY**   
**19:47**

Eleonora jumped off the couch when the doorbell rang, knowing it was Edoardo since the pizzas hey had ordered had arrived five minutes earlier. She entered the hallway and raced her way to the front door of their apartment like an excited child, making Filippo chuckle in the kitchen as he sipped his wine. Eleonora stopped at the door, taking a deep breath as she gave herself one last look in the mirror hanging on the wall; her own, agitated eyes stared back, red lips curved up into a nervous smile. Oh, let this evening be normal. Just one normal dinner. Just one. 

Eleonora opened the door, and a smile twitched at the corners of her lips as soon as her eyes set on Edoardo. The boy was wearing a white shirt that was in drastic contrast with his dark curls that were now almost falling onto his eyes. He started smiling when he saw Eleonora, his eyes lingering on the girls’ features for a few, extra long moments. 

“Hi,” Edoardo said.

“Hi,” Eleonora echoed breathlessly, leaning against the door.

They stood there staring at each other like complete idiots for a few more seconds until Eleonora realized to awkwardly step back to let the boy actually enter the apartment. Edoardo looked thoughtful as he pulled off his leather jacket, hanging it on the wall before looking at Eleonora again. “You look good. The lipstick, it… Suits you. You look nice.”

Eleonora chuckled as Edoardo seemed to stumble over his own words, struggling to put them in an order that didn’t make him sound like a nervous child. Eleonora looked at Edoardo, stroking one runaway curl from his eyes. “You sound nervous, Incanti.”

The boy smiled, glancing towards the kitchen where Filippo was making a lot of noise perhaps to give the two of them a private moment. Edoardo leaned down to whisper: “It’s not everyday you meet your fake-girlfriend’s brother, now is it?”

The two of them shared a silent, meaningful laughter at the whole absurdity of the situation, and Edoardo couldn’t stop himself from staring at the girl. Fuck, she was beautiful. How had it taken him so long to realize how beautiful she was? Edoardo gaze turned to his hands when he felt Eleonora’s hand grasp his, and he followed without a word as she started leading him down the hallway towards the kitchen. They stopped at the doorway, and Filippo looked up from his phone when he heard the pair enter the room. He put down his phone and got up on his feet in an awkward attempt to greet Edoardo properly.

“Hi again,” Filippo said, his tone suggestive. Filippo Sava, the flirt. He offered his hand to Edoardo, and the pair shook hand as Edoardo attempted his best to seem proper.

“Filippo,” he said as he let his free hand fall back to his side. “It’s nice to meet you again. It seems that last time Eleonora seemed to be in too much of a hurry to actually let us have a chat.”

Eleonora rolled her eyes at Edoardo, making both of the boys smirk at each other - if there was something that was easy to do, that was getting Eleonora riled up, and they both had learned the art of it. Edoardo quite quickly, which Filippo admired. And though he clearly had learned how to get under his sister’s skin, there was also something about the way he looked at her; something completely bare, something so honest yet something so well concealed. They were a strange pair, but one that made a good fit, nevertheless. It felt good to know that Eleonora was with someone who looked at her with such intensity it nearly made everyone else want to look away as if not to interrupt their private moment. And that’s what Filippo did, suddenly feeling like he was imposing.

Eleonora broke the silence in the room. “So, what do you guys wanna drink?”

Filippo raised his wine glass to signal that he was good, but Edoardo shrugged. “Beer, if you have any.”

“Well, Edoardo, there’s not a single person in this household that drinks beer, but luckily I thought ahead!” Filippo said, gesturing towards the fridge where Eleonora found a six-pack of beer that he had bought hours before. 

Eleonora offered the glass bottle to Edoardo as they sat down, but before Edoardo could have the chance to thank her, his eyes noticed something on the girl’s bare upper arm. It was a black tattoo of a spider, the design in such a dark contrast with Eleonora’s light skin that it felt silly that Edoardo was just now noticing it. “You’ve got a tattoo, Sava?”

Filippo looked like he could’ve just about choke on his wine as Edoardo tried to grab at Eleonora’s arm to examine the tattoo better. Eleonora was quick to yank her arm back, and she leaned back in her chair as both of the men were now staring at her with different looks on their faces. Filippo looked like an excited child who had just won a prize, Edoardo just purely confused, his eyes still slipping back to get a second look at the tattoo on Eleonora’s arm that she had now hidden behind her back. 

Filippo grabbed his wine glass, turning his gaze to Edoardo. “Do tell him, _Franky._ ”

“Franky?” Asked Edoardo, now even more confused as his eyes kept shooting between the two siblings sitting at the table with him. Eleonora was staring at Filo, and it was clear that they were having some sort of a wordless communication that Edoardo didn’t quite comprehend: Eleonora widened her eyes, her lips pursed together. Filo merely shrugged at her, smiling.

Eleonora huffed out all the oxygen in her lungs, forcing out the words: “It’s a stupid nickname. From my second name Francesca. Filo knows that I hate it.”

“She hates all the nicknames I give her, so I like to rotate them so she doesn’t get sick of them. Franky, annoying little rat, the less attractive Sava, Che Palle…” Filippo went on and on, and Eleonora felt mortified. She buried her face into her hands, shaking her head as Edoardo chuckled next to her. 

Eleonora peeked at Edoardo, her cheeks heating up. “I have never heard half of those nicknames, I swear.”

“I never said that I call you by them to your face,” Filo interrupted, taking an extended sip from his wine glass.

Edoardo followed the sibling’s bickering with an entertained smile, sipping his beer as he let the two of them go at each other at full force. Eventually, as it seemed like Filippo was ready to stand down, Edoardo asked carefully: “So… The tattoo? What’s the story behind that?”

Eleonora glanced at her hands on the table before looking at Filippo, giving her brother her wordless consent for him to tell the story. Filippo’s entire demeanour seemed to change, and he propped himself up on the chair like an excited child as he peeled his long sleeve back a few centimetres to reveal an identical tattoo on his own forearm. “See, this was a few years back when our mom found his new boyfriend and decided to move to Lecce,” Filippo started, his voice tender as he talked of the clearly touchy subject. 

“And Eleonora and I were pretty crushed, of course. She was never the greatest mother, but to up and leave-“ Filippo stopped himself, shaking his head. “Anyway. I saw how sad Eleonora was, and I did what I do best. I pulled out the vodka, and we got tipsy together. And after five shots we got the genius idea of getting matching tattoos to remind ourselves that no matter what happens, there’s always something permanent in our lives.”

Eleonora cringed, the entire sentiment seeming quite dumb years later. She could feel Edoardo’s eyes on her, but she didn’t return the gaze. Instead she kept eyeing the tattoo on her arm that she often tended to forget about, remembering it only whenever other people noticed it and would point it out in their curiosity.

“And you know, it obviously felt like the greatest idea after a half bottle of vodka,” Filo continued, rolling his eyes. “And we went to this nearby tattoo parlour, which was very shady to be honest. But the dude got the job done, even though Eleonora has the pain tolerance of a toddler and nearly started crying-“

 _“FILO!”_ Eleonora interrupted, laughing. She could hear Edoardo laughing as well, and the boy glanced at her with bright eyes.

“And!” Filo kept going, not giving any notice to his sister’s protests. “That night ended up with me holding up Franky’s hair in the bathroom as she swore that she’d never drink again,” he said, glancing at Eleonora with a grin, “How’d that work out for you, again?”

Eleonora’s eyes widened at the hint of another possible embarrassing story, and yet again she called out her brother’s name to stop him from spilling out more of their drunken adventures. The siblings were sharing yet another moment of wordless conversation that this time seemed to end in Eleonora’s victory, as Filo shrugged and turned his gaze on the slice of pizza on his plate. 

“I swear we’re not related in any way. He’s adopted.” Eleonora joked, her expression pained.

Filippo shook his finger in Eleonora’s face. “Actually, little rat, I called mom and she said she can’t find your birth certificate. Oops.”

Edoardo couldn’t stop the laughter that escaped through his lips when he heard Filo’s words and how they affected Eleonora: the girl shook her head again and took a bite of her pizza clearly just to stop herself from saying something she would regret. Filo followed her with his eyes, his grin widening at the sight of his sister’s frustration. He took a sip of his wine and looked at Edoardo as he said: “Honestly, Edoardo, if I we’re you I’d run for the hills.”

“Because of you, he just might,” Eleonora muttered under her breath.

Edoardo shook his head, a genuine smile twitching at his lips. “No, I’ve had my share of crazy families. I feel right at home here.”

“We are a bit crazy, aren’t we?” Filippo asked, grinning at Eleonora. “But it’s all fun and games. After all, I do love this little rat.”

The rest of the dinner was fairly peaceful, aside from the occasional quips and bickers from either Eleonora and Filippo. They were a fairly entertaining pair, Edoardo had to admit to it. And after a few hours, more than a few glasses of wine and tons of laughter later the three of them were lounging in the living room couches, Filo seemingly half-asleep.

“Edoardo, are you staying the night?” Filo asked, his eyes still closed. 

Edoardo glanced at Eleonora. “Uh, no. I’m driving home.”

“Ah,” answered Filo as he scrambled up from the soft couch. He ran his hand trough his platinum hair with a yawn, eyeing his bedroom door across the hallway. “Well then, I’m off to bed. Edoardo, it was nice meeting you and so on. You two be good.”

“Same to you,” Edoardo said with a genuine smile, and Filippo left the room. Eleonora and Edoardo stayed still and quiet until they heard Filippo’s bedroom closing with a quiet thud. 

Eleonora slowly got up from the couch, then offered her hand to Edoardo. The boy stayed still, looking et Eleonora. “Where are we going?

“Just trust me.”

And Edoardo did. Eleonora led her out of the livingroom and into her room, but they didn’t stay there: instead she led him out of another door that was cracked open. It lead to a roof terrace so filled with plants Edoardo had to watch where he stepped to avoid stomping on any of them. The terrace was illuminated by fairy lights hung on the wall, on the plants, anywhere you could possibly hang them. The night air was warm, calming and quiet. Edoardo was used to living so close to the city centre that he was used to the constant, defeaning noise of Rome, day and night.

This was something else. It was like its own little world, closed off from anywhere else. “Are these all your plants?”

Eleonora leaned against the edge of the terrace, her eyes peeled on the city lights before them. “Yes. Some of them are Filo’s, but it’s me who takes care of them.”

Edoardo joined her on the edge, leaning against it. For a brief second he felt nostalgic. “You’re like my mom, then. She always piled up our houses full of plants. Everytime we moved, the plants came with us. They were like a lifeline to her.”

Eleonora smiled at the though of Edoardo’s mother, suddenly remembering the coffee mug that he had been drinking from at his eyes. The same, dark curls, the same smile. Of course. “Well, I have to meet her then.”

A silence so deafeningly loud fell between the two of them, that Eleonora knew that she had said something wrong. Edoardo gave no indication of it though, with his gaze locked on the horizon as his fingers tapped on the ledge. The rhythm was irregular, and after a minute the boy finally turned to look at Eleonora. “She, uh, passed away. Car accident.”

Eleonora could physically feel her lungs run out of air, she could feel her heart skipping what must’ve been at least five beats in a row. She looked away from Edoardo, closing her eyes. “Edo, I’m so sorry,” she whispered, forcing herself to look at the boy. “I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”

But Edoardo merely shook his head, almost smiling at the though of his mother. “Don’t worry about it. She was an amazing woman. She’d hate for us to remember her and be sad. Mom was always the life of any place she went, so I figured that’s something that should be remembered with joy rather than sadness, you know?”

It was a beautiful sentiment, it truly was. Eleonora nodded, her hand slowly brushing against Edoardo’s in the dark. “I get it. It’s nice.”

Edoardo’s hand grasped hers even though his eyes were still stuck on the view before them. His fingers started drawing patterns on Eleonora’s skin, making her shiver under his touch. Edoardo turned towards Eleonora, taking a deep breath as his eyes dropped to their joined hands - he looked almost like he wanted to get something off of his chest, but Eleonora was too nervous to look at him. Even when she could feel Edoardo’s gaze moving from their hands to her face, trying to catch her gaze with his own, she just couldn’t bring herself to look at him. Eleonora was burning. Fuck, she wanted to look at him.

And when finally did, Edoardo was there waiting for her, his gaze intense. He took a step closer, but Eleonora felt like she was frozen right where she was standing. Edoardo’s hand let go of Eleonora’s, but it moved up to brush a lock of hair from Eleonora’s face, but instead moving away he let it stay there, on her skin, burning her. And when Eleonora caught his eyes with her own, Edoardo leaned in closer, so close she could feel his cool breath tickling at her skin, making her heart race in her chest.

Edoardo’s other hand found its way on Eleonora’s waist, pulling her closer. They stood there, nearly intertwined, but too afraid of everything and anything to do anything even though Eleonora’s entire being was yearning to be closer. She was resisting every single cell in her own body, and when she finally pulled away from Edoardo, it was like tearing flesh.

“Dont,” she whispered, turning away. “It’ll just mess everything up.”

**FRIDAY**   
**13:30**

After the night before, Eleonora had been actively avoiding Edoardo the entire school day. She had made sure not to cross paths with the boy, she had nearly skipped a class to avoid seeing him on the hallways. She had barricaded herself in the bathroom when she had seen Fede and Chicco approaching. Fuck, it was childish, and it wasn’t like Eleonora wanted to do it - she wanted to see Edoardo. She missed him already. She wanted to hear his laugh, he wanted to tell every single detail of her day to her. But she was terrified of last night and her own feelings. If there was something she would not be, it was another girl fallen for Edoardo Incanti’s charm. 

But when Eleonora heard Edoardo’s voice echoing through the empty halls, his voice agitated, his words rough, Eleonora couldn’t stop herself from feeling worried. Why was he so upset? 

It wasn’t until she peeked around the corner that she realized that the boy was conversing - or rather arguing - with Elena in one of the deserted hallways. Eleonora couldn’t stop the feeling of devastation that was quickly spreading acorss her chest, numbing her. Of course, what else had she thought? Elena was the reason that Edoardo and Eleonora were a thing, after all. It would’ve been silly to assume that the boy who would come up with a ploy this elaborate to rile up another girl would be over said girl. And even though the sight of Edoardo and Elena was like a stab straight through Eleonora’s lungs, she couldn’t help herself from listening on.

“You were the one who broke it up!” Edoardo hissed, his words sharper than knives. 

Elena sighed dramatically. “What am I supposed to say? I made a mistake, Edo! People make mistakes! And I know that breaking up with you was a mistake. I realize it now.”

“You can’t do this to me again,” Edoardo said, pained. “You can’t mess with my head again. Not like this.”

“I’m not messing with anything, Edoardo! I love you.”

“What am I supposed to do? Wait for you like a little puppy dog on the off chance that you’ll leave your new boyfriend?”

“I am leaving him,” Elena said, but her small voice was unsure. “I am.”

“Whatever,” Edoardo said, groaning. Eleonora could hear his voice go quieter - he was walking away. 

Eleonora felt like her heart had just about fallen out of her chest, but she couldn’t move. She was frozen, all her hopes and misguided beliefs about Edoardo suddenly shattered. Elena still had control over him, over them both - she would call, and Edoardo would answer. Fuck. 

Eleonora pulled out her phone and searched Edoardo’s number from her recent contacts. She opened their WhatsApp conversation, her fingers hesitating on the keyboard. What the fuck was she supposed to say? Hey, you almost kissed me last night but today you’re basically ready to take back your ex-girlfriend, and I know this because I was listening on your private conversation? Ugh. Eleonora sighed, then figuring that it would be easier to give no context or explanation whatsoever - a sharp, clean cut. 

Eleonora Sava  
 _I don’t think we should keep doing this._

Edoardo Incanti  
 _What do you mean?_

Eleonora Sava  
 _This thing. We should just end it. I’ve got new friends, Elena is officially jealous. We’re good. I think we’re done._

Edoardo Incanti  
 _Ele, don’t do this. You can’t do this now. There’s still the pool party tomorrow, you’d promise you’d come._

Fuck. The pool party. Fucking hell, Eleonora had forgotten all about it. She hesitated on her message again, erasing it multiple times before finally writing:

_Fine. But after that we tell everyone that it’s over._


	7. There's no one like you, Sava

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eleonora attends Edoardo's pool party on Saturday.

**SATURDAY[  
](https://hauntedfinnick.tumblr.com/post/190811048264/incantavas-prompt-based-on-to-all-the-boys-i-ever)**

**14:35**

**Eva**   
_What time r you guys gonna hit the party?_

**Silvia**   
_Around 21? Me and Fede were gonna get together and pregame around 19, you guys wanna come?_

**Sana**   
_I’m good, I’ll probably be late to the party anyways. Gotta do something with my mom._

**Eva**   
_Where are you pregaming?_

**Fede**   
_My place, mom and dad are in Venice for the wknd._

**Eva**   
_What about Ele?_

**Eleonora**   
_I’m good too, I have a ton of school stuff before I get to the party._

**Silvia**   
_Ok, that’s chill._

**Silvia**   
_Brb, gotta go raid my closet to find something to wear._

**Fede**   
_Ugh, same. Crisis incoming._

**SATURDAY**   
**20:56**

Filippo stopped his car in front of Edoardo’s grand house, his eyes gazing over the house approvingly. There were people standing on the front lawn of the house, some of them smoking cigarettes under the night sky, and the open doors of the house emitted a warm glow. Eleonora hopped out of Filippo’s car, but before she could slam the door shut, her brother said:

“Hey, I don’t know why you’ve been feeling so down for a few days, but promise me you’ll try to have fun?” Filo’s voice was full of concern, his eyes sympathetic. It was clear that he was trying to detect any clues of Eleonora’s thoughts on the girl’s face, but there were none to be found.

Eleonora nodded, adjusting the bag on her shoulder in an attempt to avoid eye contact with her brother. “I promise, Filo. I’m fine.”

Filippo’s eyes on her were knowing, and for a moment he hesitated as if there was still something to say. But instead he smiled, nodded and gestured for his little sister to go, his smile wavering only for a second. Eleonora slammed the door shut and followed Filippo’s car with her eyes until it was out of view, stalling on the moment she would actually have to turn and face everyone - especially Edoardo - at the party that was clearly already raging on. A few people were already greeting Eleonora before she even reached the house itself; some of the faces were familiar friends of Edoardo’s, some of them complete strangers. But they all knew who she was.

“Ele!” Eva crashed onto Eleonora as soon as she stepped, her arms wrapping around the girl. Eva was wearing a pair of shorts over her bikini, her hair still damp from the chlorine water. Eva smelled of alcohol, chlorine and a fragrance that Eleonora had learned long ago to associate to her; it was a sweet scent, somewhat fruity and bubbly. Just like Eva herself.

Eleonora pulled back from her friend’s embrace. “Hi! How’s it going?” 

Eva spread her arms and spun around in a drunken manner, giggling as she did so. “Amazing! It’s been so much, Federico threw me into the pool!”

Eleonora turned her gaze to the other side of the crowded livingroom, where Federico and Chicco were loudly playing a game of cards, surrounded by a curious crowd of intoxicated teenagers. Even Silvia and Sana were following the progress of the game, the blonde girl clutching a half-empty bottle of wine in her left hand. Loud music was emitting from the glass doors that led to the backyard, where the majority of the party was obviously happening - it was a pool party, after all. 

For the first time in a while Eleonora felt nervous at the thought of seeing Edoardo, but she didn’t protest when Eva grabbed her by her arm and started leading her across the crowd, slipping through the masses of people like it was her second nature. “Eleonora, you have to come swimming with us!”

Eleonora shook her head at Eva as they stepped outside, the warm night air caressing their faces. “No, I… Totally forgot my bathing suit at home.”

Music was blasting from a large set of speakers, and the pool was filled with drunken people moving their bodies to the beat, there were couples making out in the water, there were girls dipping their toes into the pool. And then there was Edoardo, shirtless, immersed in conversation with a bunch of friends. Eleonora stood there for a second, frozen, trying to decide whether to continue her little effort of completely avoiding the boy, who she had barely said a word to after their little scene on the roof terrace of Eleonora’s apartment.

But before Eleonora could come to a conclusion, Edoardo looked up, his eyes setting immediately on Eleonora. A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth, and his eyes lit up in the slightest, most warming way possible. But just as fast it had appeared, the expression was gone. Edoardo turned back to his friends, said a few words to them and then turned back to Eleonora. Eva’s eyes were curiously jumping between her and Edoardo as the boy made his way up to them, his expression stern when he stopped in his tracks right in front of Eleonora, so close that she swore she could almost taste the chlorine on Edoardo’s skin.

“Hi,” Edoardo said, his eyes hard on Eleonora’s. 

Eleonora felt breathless. “Hey.”

Eva looked like a frightened child left in the middle of their parent’s argument, leaning backwards on her heels when she caught the cold expression in Edoardo’s eyes. Eleonora could see Eva gaze glossing over the crowd until she spotted Elias sitting on the edge of the pool. “Guys, I gotta go say to Elias,” the redhead said, her care-free voice so artificial it almost made Eleonora chuckle. “I’ll catch you later, though!”

Edoardo waited until Eva was far enough not to hear them before he said anything. His hand reached for Eleonora’s almost instinctively, his fingers brushing at hers. “I missed you.”

Eleonora felt like there was not one single coherent thought in her heard when Edoardo was looking at her like this, his fingers still caressing the skin on her palm like it was the most natural thing for him to do. There was a worried look twisting his usually carefree features, and Eleonora felt so guilty that it felt nearly impossible to maintain the eye contact Edoardo was so desperately seeking. Eleonora brushed a lock of hair behind her own ear, shrugging. “Sorry, I uh… Got really caught up with school. It’s crazy how much homework piles up once you have actual friends to hang out with.”

Edoardo was not dumb. He caught the artifical tone of lightness in Eleonora’s voice, he heard how desperately the girl was trying to make a joke out of the entire situation. Edoardo gave the girl a half-assed smile to giver her some peace of mind, and it seemed to work - something in Eleonora’s posture changed, and it looked like she released a breath she had been holding in for minutes. “Okay, I get it.”

They both were lying, and they both knew it. There was a hint of blame in Edoardo’s eyes, and there was a hint of a secretive shame in Eleonora’s, but neither said anything about it. It had always been better to brush things under the mat in Edoardo’s experience, so he figured that Eleonora would not be any different. Maybe it was useless to try to figure things out with her - maybe it just freaked her out. Maybe she needed some time. 

Time. The only thing that Edoardo and Eleonora were seemingly running out of. Fuck. Edoardo felt pain in his chest when he remembered Eleonora’s strange message: _Fine. But after that we tell everyone that we’re over._   
The girl had put a clock on their time together, and the clock was running on its last hours. And even the thought of that felt somehow painful to both of them, yet neither knew nothing of each other’s feelings.

“You wanna go swimming?” Edoardo asked, desperate to break the heavy moment between the two.

Eleonora shook her head again. “I forgot to bring my bathing suit.”

Edoardo laughed, and this time there was truth in the gesture. “You forgot to bring a bathing suit. To a pool party.”

“Well, you know me,” Eleonora said, her tone nearly playful this time. “I’m all over the place.”

Edoardo smiled tenderly, turning his gaze to the sky with a laugh. “Yes you are, Sava.”

**23:58**

The party had gotten only louder the past hours, and even Eleonora had gotten to the same, festive mood as her friends around her. The girl was sitting on the backyard lawn with Eva, the two of them slightly detached from the rest of the party so that they could hear each other speak - and though they were sitting on the edge of the lawn, Eleonora swore she could still feel the bass of the music in the back of her teeth. She took a sip of her beer, her eyes peeled on the city lights below them. If there was something Eleonora loved about Edoardo’s house, it was the view; the slight hill the neighbourhood was situated on offered an amazing view across Rome, and it was only better at night.

Eva next to her looked thoughtful, her fingers fidgeting with the glass bottle. “So, how are things with you and Edoardo?”

It was a simple question, but Eleonora didn’t know how to answer. She tore her gaze off of the city, taking an extended sip of her beer - the alcohol was humming in her bloodstream, making everything warmer, safer. And suddenly, as if it were the most natural thing, Eleonora felt the absolute need to confess the truth to her best friend who was now eyeing her with a worried look in her eyes. Eleonora opened her mouth, but it felt like the words were getting stuck to the back of her throat, suffocating her. 

“Ele?”

The brunette took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “We’re faking it.”

“What?” Eva asked, confused.

“We’re faking it,” Eleonora repeated, turning her gaze to the redhead beside her. “The relationship is fake, we’ve been pretending for like a month. Edoardo wanted to make his ex jealous and I wanted to get the opportunity to meet new friends at school.”

Eva stared at her, clearly waiting for the girl to burst into drunken laughter. The moment never came, and the redheaded girl kept opening and closing her mouth in an attempt to give Eleonora something to hold on to - some kind words, some consolation, anything. But what the hell was she supposed to say. “Oh.”

“I’ll just pretend that this isn’t the weirdest shit I’ve ever heard,” Eva continued, shaking her head. “Well, how long are you guys gonna go on?”

“Today’s the last day,” Eleonora stated, her voice almost cold. “I told Edoardo that we’re done.”

“But why?” Eva asked her best friend, taking a long sip of her beer.

“It’s nothing,” the brunette lied, avoiding Eva’s eye contact.

“You’re full of shit, Sava.”

Eleonora hesitated, as she knew that there was no point in lying to her friend. Eva had gotten to know her so well that it’d just be insulting to continue lying to her and pretend like the girl didn’t know the truth. And besides, why wouldn’t she tell Eva? She had already told some of the truth to her, so there really was no point in withholding the rest of the story from the redhead. 

“Well… I’m just so confused. Edoardo’s still hung up on Elena, and I’m yet one of the girls that fell for the Incanti charm just to get nothing back,” Eleonora huffed out, shaking her head. She took a sip of her beer. “It’s embarrassing.”

“Listen, Eleonora,” Eva started, putting her beer bottle between her feet to prevent it from tipping over. “I don’t know what the fuck you’ve been doing the past month, but clearly you have not been seeing any of the obvious signs around you. Edoardo likes you, girl. I can tell by the way he looks at you - like he’s trying to figure you out, and he quite can’t, but he’s just enjoying the fact that you’re there.”

Eleonora couldn’t help a slight smile from climbing up her lips, and she turned her gaze to the grass to hide it from Eva. The girl continued: “So I’d say if there’s anyone who stupidly fell for someone who doesn’t like them back, it’s not you. It’s Edoardo.”

There was a certainty in Eva’s words, and whether it was the alcohol in Eleonora’s system or something else, Eleonora felt slightly more confident. “You think he likes me?”

“Oh hell yeah,” Eva said, truthfully. “He’s probably just waiting for a sign. He’s a respectable guy after all, not one to jump a girl who gives no indication that they’re interested in him. Though I doubt that there have been many girls in his path that have not been interested.”

**03:45**

It wasn’t even four in the morning when Eleonora woke up in one of the guest bedrooms, still fully clothed. The girl scrambled up from the bed, noticing that Eva, Fede and Silvia were laying on the bed, as well. No wonder it had been uncomfortable - the bed was barely big enough for two people. Eleonora made her way out of the bedroom barefoot, closing the door quietly in attempt not to wake up her friends. She made her way down the hallway and back to the livingroom, where many people were passed out on the couches, some of them still clutching half-empty bottles. It was still dark outside, the night air in the backyard illuminated only by the lights in the pool.

Eleonora walked to the backdoors, avoiding the empty beer bottles, cups and the occasional human being lying on the wooden floors, careful not to wake up anyone. The chlorine-scented night air felt good on Eleonora’s burning skin, and for a minute she considered whether it was too late to call Filippo to pick her up - maybe he was awake, it was the weekend, after all. Though if he were awake at this hour, it was more likely that he was in no condition to drive, as he had mentioned a new club opening in Trastevere. Fuck.

Edoardo’s voice pierced the silence, making Eleonora jump. “You’re awake.”

Edoardo was sitting on the steps that led to the pool, submerged in water up to his chest. His arms were spread on the edges of the pool, a cigarette between his fingers. There was a bottle of vodka and an ashtray on the edge of the pool, close enough for the boy to reach - clearly he had taken advantage of the party dying down to have a moment of his own, as Edoardo had never been to person to fall asleep early. It was something Eleonora had learned over the course of their weeks together, through countless of late night text messages and hang outs. 

“Yeah,” Eleonora admitted eventually, walking to other side of the pool. She sat down on the edge, putting her feet in the warm water. Edoardo followed her with his lazy gaze, frowning as Eleonora seemed to sit down as far away from him as possible. 

“Are you okay?” Eleonora asked eventually, forcing herself to look at Edoardo. The blue light illuminated his features beautifully, colouring him in a completely new way. The light bounced off of his eyes, and Eleonora couldn’t look away. 

Edoardo took one last drag of his cigarette before stumping it onto the ashtray. “I’m good. You know, though I was pretty fucking surprised that all of a sudden you wanted us to end this.”

There was such a deep hurt in his voice that Eleonora nearly flinched - it was like a knife thrown right across the pool. The girl turned her gaze back to the surface of the water, suddenly feeling the burn of Edoardo’s disappointment. “Shouldn’t you be thanking me? Elena’s so damn jealous that for a moment I thought that she might actually kill me.”

Edoardo sighed, throwing his head back to look at the stars. “You know, for such a smart person you can be really fucking dense sometimes, Sava.”

“What?” Asked Eleonora, her voice sharp.

“This has nothing to do with Elena anymore,” Edoardo stated, looking at Eleonora again. “At least not for me.”

“What do you mean?” The girl asked again, suddenly feeling extremely nervous under Edoardo’s gaze.

“You know what was the only thing I cared about tonight? The only reason I was so excited?” Edoardo asked and paused like he wanted to give his words more weight. “You. I got to see _you._ And that was all I could think about all damn day. And you know what that means?”

Eleonora shrugged, a smile twitching at her lips. “You have severe problems with concentrating?” 

Edoardo rolled his eyes and splashed some water, though it did not reach Eleonora on the other edge of the pool. “You are _impossible_.”

A wider smile twitched at Eleonora’s features, and for a brief moment Edoardo was relieved. They fell into a silence that felt somehow fragile, like the slightest of sounds could break it. Edoardo wanted to break it. He wanted to shatter it, he wanted to say every single thing that had been keeping him up for days, he wanted Eleonora know how he felt. The words kept getting stuck in his mouth, and after a few moment he gave up, turning his gaze to the side. And that’s when Eleonora started moving. 

The girl pulled off the long cardigan she had borrowed from Silvia, leaving only the white, simple dress she had worn to the party. For a moment she hesitated on something. Seconds passed, and Edoardo swore every last one of them felt like eternity. And when Eleonora dropped into the pool, Edoardo couldn’t tear his eyes off of the girl. 

“Uh. You’re coming in. In your dress,” Edoardo said, stalling on the words like he was trying to figure out the sight in front of him. 

Eleonora shrugged as she made her way closer to the boy, the water getting more shallow as she got closer to Edoardo. “I didn’t bring my bathing suit, remember?” 

Eleonora didn’t stop until she was close enough to Edoardo to touch him; she stood there, shivering in the cool night air, the weight of her soaked dress pulling her down. She looked beautiful even then, the blue light dancing on her features, creating shadows on her eyes. Edoardo sat there on the stairs looking at her, and suddenly it felt ridiculous that they were so far apart.

Eleonora took a deep breath. _“Hi.”_

A wide smile spread across Edoardo’s features, lighting up his eyes. His right arm reached for Eleonora under the water, wrapping around her waist. Slowly he pulled Eleonora to his lap on the stairs, his eyes locked on hers. His voice was rough when he whispered: “There is _no one_ like you, Sava.”

Eleonora’s hand made its way to the back of Edoardo’s neck. She felt breathless as she sat there, looking at him, close enough to feel his cool breath tickling at her skin. Edoardo’s left made its way to her waist, securing his grip on her like he was scared Eleonora would disappear from under his touch. Eleonora’s eyes on him were gentle, and though her hand was shaking - from nervousness? - as she brushed a runaway curl from Edoardo’s eyes, there was a certainty in her eyes that she had lacked before. Something had changed in her, something in the way she looked at Edoardo, her lips so close he could almost feel them brushing against his own.

And that’s when Edoardo kissed her, making Eleonora gasp against his lips. It was slow at first, careful. Edoardo’s arms around her were secure but gentle, and the kiss on his lips so intoxicating it felt ridiculous that it had taken him almost four weeks to finally give into the feeling that had been driving him insane for days on end. The kiss started deepening when Edoardo felt Eleonora’s hand sliding from the back of his neck to his jaw, her small hand cupping his face.

“What?” Edoardo asked, breathless, when Eleonora pulled away a mere few inches.

Eleonora shook her head, smiling. “Nothing.”

Slowly, their lips crashed again. Edoardo’s arms let go of Eleonora’s waist and wrapped around the girl, pulling her so close she could feel Edoardo’s racing heartbeat against her own. The water splashed around them from the sudden movement, and Eleonora giggled the most adorable laughter against Edoardo’s lips, making his heart jump ever so slightly. How had it taken him so long to get here? How was it possible that he had wasted these past weeks not kissing Eleonora? Fuck.

She was the best thing he had ever felt, and if Edoardo could have frozen this moment, at four in the morning, and live it forever, he would have. 


	8. Today we just lay here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eleonora and Edoardo wake up together the morning after the pool party.

**SUNDAY**

**10:42**

Edoardo was the first thing Eleonora saw when she opened her eyes to the bright light of a new day streaming through the windows of the boy’s room. Edoardo was sprawled across the bed in an X-form, his face buried into a pillow so tightly that Eleonora worried whether he was able to even breathe. She gazed at the boy for a brief, tender moment, following how his body moved with his slow breaths. The mess of curls on his head was pointing into every possible direction. He looked soft. Younger. At peace, even, though the half-empty bottle of vodka and a pack of cigarettes on his bedside table broke the facade of innocence ever so slightly.

“You’re awake,” Edoardo mumbled as he pulled his face from the pillows. For a second Eleonora felt upset over the fact that she had never heard Edoardo’s sleepy, rough morning voice before. It was something that made her heart flutter, and she had to take a moment to get a hold of herself.

“I’m awake,” Eleonora answered, pulling herself to a more upright position.

Edoardo’s protest was immediate: his hand grasped at hers, giving himself a second to admire the sight of Eleonora in his t-shirt. Fuck, she should never wear anything else. It was a damn cliche, but Eleonora with her hair a knotted mess, the last traces of mascara from last night’s party still staining her under eyes and wearing a large t-shirt was a sight Edoardo could’ve kept on staring for hours. 

Edoardo shook his head, pulling the girl clumsily to him. “Don’t. Stay here.”

Eleonora plopped back down on the bed, and Edoardo pulled her against his bare chest so fast the girl couldn’t get in a single word. They laid there, nervous, Edoardo’s fingers tracing incoherent patterns on Eleonora’s arms, all the while his eyes kept examining her like she was the most fascinating thing to grace this earth. 

Suddenly, Eleonora felt like a giddy, nervous kid again. She wasn’t sure whether it was Edoardo’s eyes on her, or the fact the she could physically touch his bare chest, or perhaps the fact she could hear his breathing in the silence between them. It was frustrating to hear how steady his breaths were. Edoardo Incanti was not nervous. “Shouldn’t we get up? It’s your house, and there were tons of people passed out on your floors.”

Edoardo shook his head with a smile, his fingers slowly making their way to Eleonora’s neck, tickling at her skin. “No, I heard Fede kicking everyone out at like 7am before he left. Though I think he might’ve taken Eva with him.”

Eleonora couldn’t help herself from smiling at the nonchalantness that Edoardo was emitting. “So… We’re alone?”

She could’ve sworn she felt Edoardo’s heart missing a beat. But just as fast as it did, he recovered, covering the second of hesitation by clearing his throat. He shrugged, his fingers now tracing at Eleonora’s jaw. “Yeah. We’re alone.”

Silence fell again, and for the briefest moment Eleonora was so nervous she was nearly shaking in Edoardo’s arms. Edoardo’s burning touch on her skin was not helping her to put her thoughts into an order that made sense, and the silence between them was spreading thinner and thinner every single second that passed. “I could help you clean up a little,” Eleonora offered, strained.

The proposition only made Edoardo chuckle, and he shook his head. He smiled the kind of smile Eleonora had only seen a few times; it was a smile reserved for private moments. Moments similar to this, huddled under a blanket that was too small for the both of them. Moments where Edoardo’s touch was tickling at Eleonora’s skin, and they were alone. There hadn’t been many moments this intimate between them - merely that one time at the roof garden, and last night in the pool, but Edoardo’s smile felt like home.

“No,” Edoardo said, his voice soft. “Today we just lay here.”

And then he caught Eleonora’s face in his hands and kissed her.

**SUNDAY**

**12:30**

“Why did you want to end it? This?” Edoardo asked Eleonora, who was now laying on Edoardo’s bare torso, her face pressed against his chest.

Eleonora shrugged, propping herself up on her elbows to buy herself some time. Edoardo brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear, baffled at the sight of her yet again. “I thought… I heard you and Elena arguing and I just felt so threatened. And ridiculous, because I knew that I had caught feelings even though that was the last thing we were supposed to do.”

Edoardo’s expression fell blank when he heard Elena’s name mentioned, and for a second it looked he wouldn’t answer. Eleonora was tracing nervous patterns on his chest and stomach, avoiding eye contact as she awaited for the boy’s response. “Don’t feel ridiculous, Ele,” Edoardo said, shaking his head. He grabbed the girl’s hand in his, bringing it to his lips. “I hardly could even remember Elena’s name after I had spent two days with you.”

“Is that so?” Eleonora said, suddenly intrigued. She smiled an adorable smile that curved slightly more to the right, and Edoardo swore she had never looked more beautiful.

“Yes,” the boy confirmed, pressing a kiss on Eleonora’s fingertip. “Funnily enough, our play-pretend is the first real thing I’ve had in my life.”

And it was terrifying. It was fucking terrifying to lay there, looking at Eleonora, knowing that she now had the full opportunity of breaking his heart. She was the first one Edoardo truly felt for, she was the first one he had trusted himself to. And it was terrifying.

But before the terror could take over, Eleonora rolled on top of Edoardo, straddling him. And by the time she pressed her lips on his, Edoardo had forgotten all about Elena, about his own terror, and quite honestly about the entire fucking world around them. 

**SUNDAY**

**14:40**

Eleonora’s hand was cupping at Edoardo’s face, pulling him over her. Her free hand was gripping his curls, her heavy breaths shaky in between their kisses. Edoardo’s arms were just as restless, his hands making their way down the hem of the girl’s - well, technically it was Edoardo’s - shirt. Eleonora’s body was moving with her rapid breaths, her chest rising and falling in a fast pace under the shirt, shivers running all the way down her spine when she felt Edoardo’s hand slowly making its way up her stomach and all the way up to her chest.

Edoardo’s fingers fiddled with Eleonora’s necklace, pulling her closer as he kissed the girl hungrily. Yet again his fingers started wandering, sliding down Eleonora’s sides, tickling at her ribs like he was trying to memorise every inch of her body just by touching her. 

“Edo,” Eleonora sighed as the boy kissed her neck, giving them both a chance to catch heir breath.

“Mm?” Edoardo mumbled as he kissed her throat, slowly making his way to the girl’s collarbone that was exposed from the neckline of her t-shirt. 

It was nearly impossible to think rationally when Edoardo was touching her, kissing her, making her dizzy. Fuck. “I can’t. I’m not ready… For sex.”

Edoardo’s kisses stopped, and he looked up. A second passed, and Eleonora was terrified of the older boy’s reaction as his eyes met hers. But he smiled.

“Okay,” he answered, pressing a light kiss on Eleonora’s lips. “That’s okay, Sava. You control the pace here.”

Relief. Fuck, it was a relief. “Okay,” Eleonora whispered, smiling.

“And though kissing you is very good, you know what else would be amazing?” Edoardo asked, smiling like a michivieous kid.

“What?”

Edoardo grabbed Eleonora’s hand. “Breakfast.”


	9. There's a video

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just as things are finally looking up, a mysterious video threatens to ruin everything.

**chapter 9 - there’s a video**

**TUESDAY**

**12:35**

There were strange looks being thrown Eleonora’s way when she made her way across the courtyard of their school, sunny weather having lured nearly all of the students to lounge on the chairs and tables scattered across the yard. And though the feeling of having eyes on her had been something of a regular occurrence ever since Eleonora had started Edoardo Incanti - first fake-dating, and as of recently, truly dating - but this was something different. There eyes were hostile, vile, the looks like tiny pricks in Eleonora’s back that made her flinch each time she passed yet another table of students to get to her friends. Eleonora answered one of the staring people with her own, freezing gaze, making the girl jump and turn her attention back to her phone.

The worst thing was that when Eleonora sat down on one of the empty tables where Silvia, Sana, Eva and Fede were sitting, the looks didn’t disappear. Oh no, they were mirrored across every single one of the girls’ faces, and though their expressions varying from concern to curiosity, the look was there. The look was there in their eyes, and though the girls were trying to clumsily hide it with half-assed smiles and greetings when Eleonora sat down, she knew that something was wrong. Silvia kept eyeing her like a naughty child, then quickly looking away as Eleonora caught her studying gaze on her face.

“Ele! How was your morning?” Said Eva, clumsily, all the while trying to fix her expression to a more appropriate smile.

Eleonora frowned, her gaze jumping from Eva to Sana. “What do you mean? We literally had the same classes.”

Eva’s smile wavered, and she shook her head like she was just now remembering spending the entire morning with her friend. “Oh, right! Fuck, I’m so tired, barely slept any. I’m like sleepwalking.”

The entire conversation was so painfully artificial, it made Eleonora physically uncomfortable. She found herself adjusting her position on the bench, trying to find a way not to feel like her organs were doing cartwheels inside her body. What the fuck was going on?

“Okay, what’s going on? Everyone’s acting like I just killed someone,” Eleonora asked, her voice careful like she was scared of hearing whatever was going on. Maybe she was. Okay, she was mortified.

Sana was the first one to react by clearing her throat, but before she could go any further, Fede shook her head slightly like she was telling her friend to shut up. Eleonora’s gaze shot from Sana to Fede, her expression sinking when she saw Fede’s face, usually so care-free, now twisted into an unsure frown that looked wrong on her features. “Somebody tell me right now.”

Sana opened her mouth again, and she adjusted her scarf when she pondered on what to say. “Ele, there’s a… Video. A video that Elena’s sending to everyone and-“

“And what?” Eleonora’s voice sharp like a knife, though it broke toward the end.

Sana’s expression was full of pity. “She’s calling you a… _A slut._ ”

Eleonora flinched at the harsh word slipping off of Sana’s lips. “What’s the video?”

Sana turned to Eva like she was asking for help, and Eva rubbed her temples when she started: “It’s a video of you and Edoardo from last saturday. It’s a video of you two kissing in the pool… Elena’s sending it to people and saying that you two had sex there.”

“That’s not true!” The words rolled off Eleonora’s lips like weights, slamming silent nearly the entire courtyard. More eyes on her. Fuck. Eleonora buried her face in her hard, mortified of the attention she was now receiving for all the wrong reasons. Fuck, she was nauseous.

Eleonora scrambled up to her feet, her backpack falling from her grip as she did so. “I have to go,” she uttered, already racing across the courtyard, the eyes on her now like knives in her back.

**TUESDAY**

**12:50**

It didn’t take long for Eleonora to locate Edoardo, as it seemed like the boy had been looking for her as well. Edoardo turned the corner from the other end of the hallway, his expression almost feverish as he ran his hand through his hair like he was trying to rip his hair from its roots. He froze for a split second when his eyes laid on Eleonora, but then it was relief on his face. And when his eyes set on the tears rolling down Eleonora’s face, his expression sunk, twisted.

“Eleonora,” Edoardo said, his voice wrapping around the name, pleading. His steps quickened into a running pace when he tried to catch up to Eleonora, who was now walking away, the sudden sight of Edoardo far too much for her to bear. Besides, what good would it do? It would only make people more hungry for information to see the two of them together like this.

“Eleonora, baby, please”, Edoardo called out. “Eleonora, stop!”

His large hand wrapping around Eleonora’s wrist and pulling her to a halt. And Eleonora stopped, but she didn’t turn around. She didn’t want to look at him. She didn’t want to see his eyes, she didn’t want to hear anything he had to say. She shook her head, trying to pry herself away from Edoardo’s grip. The boy didn’t let got, only taking the chance to turn the girl to face him, his hands now gripping at her shoulders.

“Eleonora, I swear, I didn’t have anything to do with this! Please, baby, listen,” Edoardo pleaded, his voice breaking at the sight of Eleonora’s misery. “I don’t know who filmed it and I don’t know how Elena got the video, but it was _not me.”_

“Don’t,” Eleonora pleaded, trying to twist herself free from his grip. “Don’t! Let go of me! You got me into this mess!"

“Ele,” Edoardo whispered, and took a step back, stunned. He slowly let go of the girl, his arms falling flat against his sided. “Ele, _please_. Ele, don’t do this.”

And when Eleonora turned around to walk away, there were another pair of arms that she fell into: Eva’s. They wrapped around her protectively, pulling the girl against the redhead’s chest like she was little child seeking solace from her mother. Eva’s eyes were pinned on Edoardo’s, who’s hands were shaking as he ran his hand through his hair, anxious like no other. He looked almost fragile, The Edoardo Incanti.

“Aren’t you gonna do something?” Eva hissed at Edoardo as the first sobs ripped through Eleonora’s body, her body flinching in Eva’s arms. The redhead wrapped her arms around her tighter, slowly starting to pull the girl towards the nearest exist. “Let’s go, Ele. Let’s go home now.”

Edoardo looked helpless as he stared at Eleonora, who was now falling apart inside Eva’s arms. He turned around the face the hallway that was slowly filled with students. “ _YO_! Nothing happened in the fucking pool, _you fucking assholes_! And if I hear anyone talking about this again, I will fuck you up!”

He laid one last gaze on Eva and Eleonora’s distancing figures, the urge to run after them like a physical pain taking over his legs. But instead he turned around, pushing an unknown male student brutally out of his way, and disappeared into the crowd. When Eva glanced over her shoulder, he was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> feedback much appreciated!


End file.
